Chapter 5
The Pact
Ash and the Yamask that was once Misty woke up to the sound of clinking dishes outside their room. Ash walked downstairs and saw his mom fixing up a small breakfast. "Sweety, I saw that you came home for a visit last night and decided to make you breakfast. Bacon and toast okay?" She said. "Aw, yeah, that's great, Mom. Thanks." Ash said. He sat down and grabbed a fork. "Oh, Ash, Sweety?" Ash's mom said. "Yeah?" Ash replied. Ash's mom turned her head 180 degrees around. Suddenly, the house was bathed in fire and darkness. The thing that once looked like Ash's mom slowly turned a deep shade of crimson and grew several feet taller. "Ash, baby…" The thing said. "Mom?!" Ash said. "Ash, you're a good boy. Now give me more souls."
Ash got up out of his seat and started to run toward the door, but the doors melted into darkness. He was trapped with the monster. "Ash, don't be afraid. I love you." The monster said. "What… What the fuck are you?" Ash screamed. The monster shrunk down to a tiny speck of light, a glowing ethereal wisp in the distorted darkness. "I didn't mean to scare you, I just like to trick people, that's all. I'm your new best friend, Balberith." The thing said.
"Balberith?" Ash said. "Yes, Balberith. You did a great thing, yesterday, Ash. You gave me what I desired more than anything else, and in return, I gave you Misty." Balberith said. "What? What are you talking about?" Ash said. Balberith giggled. "You didn't think that silly myth was true, do you? The one about the broken sword?" Balberith said. "I… I don't know. It seemed to work." Ash said. "That wasn't the sword's doing, Ash, it was me. You gave me slaughter, and in return, I gave you your beloved Misty." Balberith said. "What are you talking about? I didn't give anyone anything." Ash said. "Ha, that murder you committed yesterday was a sacrifice to me! That broken bade is your rite-knife and the ground itself is your altar! I gave you Misty because you show such promise as a servant, since you are so willing to do anything, no matter the cost. Now let's get down to business, Ash. If you want Misty in her proper human body, you're going to need to kill a lot more people." Balberith said.
Ash thought this over for a moment. "I… I… Um… I don't know if I can do that." Ash said. "Oh, but you can! Believe in yourself, Ash! Do you want Misty back?" Balberith said. "Y… Yes I do." Ash said. "Do you want her back with all your heart?" Balberith said. A single tear began to form in the corner of Ash's eye as he remembered what it was like the day Misty died. "Yes, with all my heart." Ash said. "Yes! You would do anything for the woman you love. You are like an angel sent to save Misty from cold death. You are my righteous angel, Ash!" Balberith said. Ash clenched his fist. "A righteous angel!" He said in agreement. Balberith's rhetoric was really getting to him. "Isn't Misty's life more important to you than some stranger? Didn't you already kill someone else's beloved for her?" Balberith said. "Yes… I did." Ash said. "Well, think of it this way, the more people you slay to bring Misty back, the more it shows how much you value her. If you kill five people, it shows that Misty is more valuable than five lives! If you kill ten people, she is more valuable than ten lives! Don't you see, Ash? This is all for Misty!" Balberith said. "I'll do it for her, then. I'll…" Ash's resolve finally solidified. "I'll do anything for her." Ash finished. "You're a good man, Ash. Misty is lucky to have you. Lesser men would have cowered at such a task." Balberith said. "I'm not great. I'm a sinner, but I sin for her. I'm lucky to have Misty." Ash said. "Right, whatever you say…" Balberith whispered.
Balberith and everything around him melted into darkness. Ash snapped back to reality. He found himself in bed next to the yamask that was once Misty cuddled up beside him. He found a note with instructions on it taped to his door. Ash quietly stood up so as not to disturb Misty. He whispered as he read, "Go to the hospital. Find the intensive care unit. Find rooms with life support machines hooked up to patients. Disable the alarms and unplug them." He read. They were instructions for easy kills left by Balberith. Ash looked at the paper, ten at Misty, and then at the paper again. He pulled out his wallet, and looked at a tiny photo of Misty from back when she was alive. "Anything… Anything for you." He said to himself.
Ash walked over to the sleeping yamask. "Misty? Misty?" Ash said. Misty awoke with a sad moan. "Misty, I'm going out. I don't want you to follow me, but I'll be back by dinnertime, I promise." Ash said. Misty let out another sad moan, and tugged at his shirt sleeve. "Don't go! I want to stay with you! I need you!" She wanted to say. "Misty, I need to do some rotten things today, but I'm doing them for you. You don't want to know, trust me, but they're things I have to do." Ash said. Misty let go of his shirt and let out a long, deep whimper. Ash hugged her tight. "I know, I know. I don't want to leave you either, even for a second… but I have to." He said.
Before he knew it, Ash was in Viridian City's hospital. He passed on Pallet Town's hospital since it was barely more than an emergency room with some beds. All the critical patients were sent to Viridian. He pretended to be just another visitor. He wandered to ICU, watching, waiting for an opportunity when the doctors and nurses weren't looking. He knelt at bedsides and silently prayed, as was common, but he prayed that the patients would find the death he would deliver peaceful, rather than the more common prayer for healing and wellness.
Ash found his first opportunity on a sleeping old woman that needed a machine to breathe for her. When he was sure no one was looking, he walked up to the machine, and pressed a button with a picture of a bell with an "X" over it. He had disabled the alarm. Then he reached down, and unplugged the machine. Ash quickly walked out of the room and went into another. He was able to do this three more times before a nurse noticed that one of the machines was unplugged. Ash quickly and inconspicuously left the hospital after that, deciding not to press his luck further.
"Well," Ash said to himself as he walked through the forest toward home, "I killed four people today." He slowly made his way back to his house, and to his surprise, found Misty on his bed. She had her yamask's mask next to her, and she was completely nude. "Misty!" Ash shouted as tears of joy ran down his face. "Ash! I… I don't know what you did, but this… You brought me back!" Misty said. She was crying now too. Ash embraced her, squeezed her tightly, so tightly it almost hurt. "Ash… Ash… You did it. You…" Misty's skin began to grow pale and sickly. She winced in pain. "Oh god! Oh god! What's happening?" Misty said. Ash took a step back and gazed in horror as Misty rotted alive. Her skin sloughed from her flesh. Her flesh fell from her bones. Her bones clattered to the floor and disintegrated into dust. Then, the yamask's mask glowed. It floated into the air and the yamask that was once Misty materialized.
Ash was outraged. "What?! What the hell was that?" He screamed. Misty looked at herself and wept. Ash stomped his foot. "I demand answers, damn it!" He screamed. In an instant, a white flash of light engulfed the room. As the light faded, it formed into a single point, Balberith. Misty moaned in fear. "Ash, I'm so sorry, don't be alarmed. I did the best I could." Balberith pleaded. "The hell you did! I just watched Misty die all over again!" He grabbed Balberith in his hand like he was going to squish him in his fist. "Do you know how much that hurt? Do you?" He said. He then pushed Balberith toward Misty, who was cowering in fear now. "And think for a second about how Misty felt, huh? She had to die, after you gave her a moment of life! One fucking moment! That's all she got! You took her hopes and smashed them, you sick fuck!" Ash screamed.
Balberith tried his best to sound intimidated by all of Ash's rage and spectacle. "Well, Ash, listen, you only killed four people. That's not really a lot for me to work with." Balberith said. Misty looked up at Ash and moaned with sadness. Ash looked back. "Yeah, Misty, that's what I did. I killed people for you… And I'd do it again. Anything for you." He said. The yamask looked at the floor. "And besides, Ash, those people didn't have much life in them. They were all old and sick, ready to die anyway. I can only move around life, not make it out of thin air. I'm not a god, you know." Balberith said. "So… I have to kill younger people if I want to spend more time with Misty." Ash said. "Yes. Exactly." Balberith said.
Ash let go of the death grip he held on Balberith. "I'm sorry I got mad at you. You're a really great… whatever you are… Thanks for doing all this for me." Ash said. "Not a problem, it was a simple misunderstanding. I completely see where you were coming from, Ash." Balberith said. Ash took Balberith in his hand again, this time as a loving friend. "I can't thank you enough for this opportunity you've given me, Balberith. I promise, I'll get Misty enough time to stick around longer tomorrow." He said. If Balberith had a mouth, he would have smiled. "I'll supply you with all the information and materials you'll need. You just do the running around. I'll have you and Misty in each other's arms again tomorrow night, I swear." Balberith said. With that, he disappeared into thin air.
Ash turned to Misty. "You hear that? Tomorrow night. We'll have it all together again by tomorrow night, just you wait." He said. Misty let out a hopeful moan. She did not yet fully understand what was going on, but she knew one thing: That moment she spent as a human again was that happiest she'd been in years, and she wanted more than anything to do that again. It was also the happiest she had seen Ash, and she could hardly stand to see what a wreck he had become, a sad meandering shell of a man. She would do anything for him to be happy as well. She was with Ash one hundred percent. "Whatever it takes." She thought to herself. "Whatever it takes."